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30 December 2017

So, You Want to Be a GED Teacher?

If there is one thing all great teachers have in common, it would be a passion for education. In fact, this one quality is how you differentiate between those who are truly committed to education and those who are simply looking for a paycheck.

Unfortunately, something is broken in the system and that’s why there are so many high school dropouts. It’s more than a well-intentioned “No Child Left Behind” piece of legislation; it’s about passing on knowledge so important to personal growth. While that was the underlying intention of the Act, somehow, something vitally important was left out in the translation from rhetoric to practice.

Making Up for Lost Time

Most concerning to teachers and legislators are statistics that show we have an imbalance between the American workforce and the number of workers who have the minimum of a high school diploma. If you trace the No Child Left Behind Act back to when it was signed into legislation by George W. Bush on January 23, 2001, you can clearly see that almost a generation has gone by.
The thing which may be troubling you is that the percentage of high school graduates has not improved. To make up for lost time, you are taking your passion for education to the adult student who also recognizes a need to make up for lost time. So, you want to be a GED teacher? It’s time to further your career with a graduate degree. Why not pursue a master of education in adult and continuing education degree?

Let’s Look at the Bare Facts
In 2006, just five years after the Bill was signed into an Act of Congress, there were approximately 150 million people in the American workforce. However, in that very same year, only three million students graduated from high school. What you can conclude from this is that less than two percent of the total workforce in any given year is comprised of workers being added to the workforce with a high school diploma.

Look at this from another perspective. If you do the math, it would take as long as 50 years to build a workforce of high school graduates. A report issued by the National Council of State Directors of Adult Education warned that the United States “cannot wait [that long]” and further said that it is necessary to move a minimum of 12 million adult workers through a GED program within five years and then on to community college.

From Bad to Worse
Furthermore, the Coalition on Adult Basic Education (COABE) reports that more than 36 million Americans cannot read and write at “the most basic level” and that more than 60 million adults in the United States have little to no working knowledge of math and computer science. Here is the most surprising and devastating statistic of all one of every three high school students drops out each and every year! If you are passionate about learning and are seeking a very real way to make a difference, you can do so with a master of education in adult and continuing education.

Demonstrate your love of learning with an advanced degree which will also place you in a position of strength when lobbying for better funding and innovations which will inspire today’s youth. Until that time, focus your passion on adult education. So, you want to be a GED teacher? Your adult students are waiting eagerly.